Menagerie Part 23

The Doctor noticed that even the impa.s.sive Taculbain were beginning to fidget with excitement. The man turned directly to the red-robed brotherhood. 'As for you, my brothers, you have much to celebrate now. I tell you truthfully, we shall not meet in this manner again! My elevation to the position of Grand Knight will ensure that the Kuabris never stray from the true and s.h.i.+ning path of the Higher. We shall feast well when we burn Himesor's heretical writings!'

The leader's comments had made the Doctor certain that Zaitabor was behind the mask. The knight turned and raised his hands heavenwards. 'Oh Higher, we praise you for using the false magician to begin your destruction of all things that reek of science.' The Doctor could hear Defrabax grunting in displeasure at this description but the Taculbain closest to them appeared not to hear. 'Help us this very moment,' continued the leader of the brotherhood, 'to serve you always and do what must be done.'

There was a commotion among the Taculbain as a huge creature, bound with ropes and chains, was brought into the chamber. It resembled the humanoid Taculbain only in as much as it had recognizable limbs and head. Lacking wings and pulling a bloated body behind her, the Taculbain Queen crawled painfully into the brotherhood's chamber.

A number of Taculbain rushed forward, incensed at the sight of their leader in such humiliation. She quelled them the moment she spoke. 'No, be patient!' Her voice was deep and rich, echoing with many tongues. 'A little longer and we shall all be free. But . . . What have we done to ensure our liberation from the dungeons of this place?'

The Rexulon leader was becoming more frenzied by the moment, his voice shrieking loudly over the disquieted chirrup of the Taculbain. 'Nothing matters now! You can attack us or we attack you and whatever the outcome we shall all be swallowed up. The steam engines in every city on this world shall soon be silenced as the Higher welcomes us all through the gateway of death.' At this even the brothers sounded a little concerned, and some began to mutter to their companions.

'The Menagerie of Ukkazaal exists, my brothers! And there are dark creatures within it!'

Despite her chains, the Queen twisted to look at the Taculbain. There was a crushed sadness in her voice. 'Oh our people, what have we done?'

'They are called Mecrim,' continued the man as the Doctor's heart pounded. 'I myself have examined and destroyed texts that refer to the Mecrim, to the grim destroyers of old. They will swarm across our planet like flies and pick clean the corpse of our corrupted world. We all share in the sins of the scientists and the false leaders, and therefore we all must die!'

A number of the brothers were shouting in outrage. The Doctor was quickly a.s.sessing the situation to see what could be done.

Suddenly two brothers broke ranks and ran towards the altar. Through the flapping red robes the Doctor recognized Jamie's unmistakable garb, and he smiled proudly.

Jamie moved to the altar to release the young man whilst the other figure - a girl - ran towards the leader of the brotherhood. The Doctor could see the fear-fuelled anger that coursed through her. She had a huge sword in her hands. 'This must end!' she screamed. 'I don't know what you have done, but you must be stopped!'

The figure in red laughed.

The girl swiped clumsily with the sword but it bit keenly into the man's neck . . . and swept effortlessly through to the other side. The masked head tumbled to the floor, landing at the girl's feet.

The Brotherhood of Rexulon gasped, but there was no blood. Still the man laughed, the headless body gesticulating wildly.

The Doctor pushed his way through the uncomprehending Taculbain and joined Jamie at the girl's side. 'Doctor!'

exclaimed Jamie happily.

The Doctor beamed. 'h.e.l.lo, Jamie. Now, what have we here .. ?' He bent down to examine the severed head, and prised off the golden mask to reveal the blank visage of a plaster face.

The arms of the body twitched into life once again, raising hands towards the heavens. The Doctor gritted his teeth and yanked hard at the shoulder joint. The arm came away in his hands. Inside the body he could see gears, cogs, coiled springs. 'Nothing more than glorified clockwork,' he said, incredulous, turning to Jamie.

'Clockwork?' said Jamie. 'But that's so basic.'

'As far as this planet is concerned, this is state-of-the-art!'

said the Doctor. 'And this man is supposed to hate technology.'

'You foolish young man,' came the voice from somewhere in the chamber. It echoed and flowed around the rough stone walls. 'I lured you here when I needed time, and you attacked like a blind beast. Did you expect to be any more successful today?'

The Doctor pointed to a gallery high above their heads where Zaitabor stood, triumphant. He stared down at Jamie malevolently. 'I've been playing games with you and your friend the Doctor ever since you came to this world. And it is on this world that you will die.'

'Listen to me!' shouted the Doctor. 'You don't know what you're doing. The Mecrim creatures must not be freed!'

'It's too late, Doctor,' said Zaitabor. 'You have been running after that wizard when you should have paid attention to me!' He nodded curtly in the direction of the moth-creatures. 'Deep in the Menagerie of Ukkazaal the Taculbain followed my orders without hesitation. The Mecrim have already been released.'

Fifteen.

Oiquaquil, Captain of the City Guard, marched into the brotherhood's chamber at the head of his men with as much dignity as he could muster. He strode through the unresisting ranks of moth-men and towards the altar. Facing the Brotherhood of Rexulon, Oiquaquil drew his sword. For the first time in his life he was seizing an opportunity.

'With the authority vested in me I arrest you all for high treason,' Oiquaquil announced as loudly as possible. All eyes turned to him, but his voice remained strong. 'I hope that you will not exacerbate your cowardice by fighting. I know that many of you think that we guards are a joke. But what little respect you have will evaporate if you turn upon the City Guard.'

One of the brothers walked towards the guards, his eyes flicking all the time to the twitching clockwork figure by the altar. The guards behind Oiquaquil reached for their weapons uneasily.

'Captain,' said the man, pulling the red robes of Rexulon from his shoulders to reveal the bright armour of a knight. 'I do not know if I speak for all the Knights of Kuabris involved with the brotherhood but . . . We had no idea that our leader was working with creatures from the menagerie.'

His voice began to falter, his face showing simple bewilderment at events. 'We certainly did not know that our leader was so . . . tainted by science himself'

Oiquaquil sighed. 'It seems that Commander Zaitabor deceived many of us with his pious proclamations of devotion,' he said.

'Then I humbly ask, Captain,' continued the knight, 'that you allow us to help defend all that we hold true. The brotherhood exists only to restore the Knights of Kuabris to the true way. We want no part in the wholesale destruction that Zaitabor talked about.'

'There is some sense in what you say,' said Oiquaquil.

'We must dedicate ourselves to defending our city from the evil this man has planned. However, mark my words, when the time is right I shall sift you all like grain. I believe the brotherhood to be guilty of kidnapping and murder. The prime movers in this shall not escape justice.'

'Very well, Captain,' said the knight.

'Until that investigation is over,' announced Oiquaquil more loudly, 'all knights shall answer directly to me. We have no idea as to the depth of this subversion.' With that Oiquaquil turned and walked towards the altar, leaving the knights to discuss matters amongst themselves.

A little man dressed in tattered gold and white armour turned to him. 'Well done, my dear Captain,' he said, clapping him soundly on the back.

'I don't mind admitting,' said Oiquaquil in a whisper, 'that my hands are still shaking. This doesn't come naturally to me, you know.'

'It does to few of us,' said the man.

Oiquaquil nodded slowly, thinking. Then he stared at the man. 'And who are you, anyway?'

'I'm the Doctor. You mean you don't remember? I've been making some enquiries of my own.'

The Captain sighed. After a brief period of decisiveness he again felt like a man drowning in his own inadequacies.

'Then perhaps you can tell me what is going on,' he said.

When Zoe and the twins arrived at the city they found the gatehouse unmanned and the streets and alleyways deserted.

The clip-clop of their mounts' hooves was the only sound to break the tense silence. Even the birds that normally darted between the eaves were nowhere to be seen.

'Perhaps they have all been punished,' said Reisaz.

'Don't be so silly,' said Raitak. She turned to Zoe. 'And how do you propose that we find this Doctor fellow of yours? I was thinking that we might be better off meeting some of Diseaeda's contacts and enquiring about the casket.'

Zoe shook her head. 'We need the Doctor's help. And I don't think we'll have any trouble finding him. Whatever's going on, that's where he'll be. Right in the thick of it.'

'Then perhaps we want the Castle of the Knights of Kuabris,' observed Reisaz. She pointed up the main street and towards the craggy rocks that supported the terrible grey construction. A number of people were emerging from their houses and walking hesitantly in that direction.

With a sudden wave of sound creatures began to pour out of some sort of cave and up into the air. Although the people immediately dived for cover it seemed that the moth-like creatures had no designs on the city folk.

Zoe looked straight up, the air now dark with flying creatures. She noticed slim but powerful limbs, ornate wings, and inhuman faces that somehow showed ecstasy and sadness.

An even darker shadow pa.s.sed overhead, a huge creature supported by the wings of others. Then it too pa.s.sed. Soon all the moth-men had gone.

'What were they?' asked Zoe.

'I don't know,' said Raitak. She pointed towards the castle.

'The knights are usually full of answers to all life's mysteries.'

'Then let's go there,' said Zoe.

'I managed to a.s.semble a few brave guards,' said Captain Oiquaquil. 'I followed the moth-creatures here, listened to what Zaitabor was saying, and decided it was time to do something.'

'I think the knights in general and the brothers in particular are utterly bemused by events,' said the Doctor.

'Their mythical reputation lies in tatters.' He let cogs and springs fall through his hand and on to the upturned plaster head like funeral dust.

'Where did he go?' said Jamie, looking up at the now deserted gallery.

'Back down into the old city, I expect,' said the Doctor. 'It seems there are a number of tunnels between there and here.

Once Zaitabor had penetrated the fabled menagerie with the help of one of the Kuabris robes he was able to establish a simpler return route - to this chamber, right underneath the castle,'

'Then we'd better get after him,' said Jamie. 'He could be -'

'Don't worry, Jamie,' said the Doctor. 'I sent an android after him with a very specific set of instructions.'

Oiquaquil looked at the almost empty ceremonial chamber. 'What role did those moth-creatures play in this?'

'They were Zaitabor's unwilling slaves,' said the Doctor.

'They would do anything to get their Queen back. I can only a.s.sume that the Taculbain spend a certain portion of the year in hibernation. Zaitabor must have stumbled upon their lair at just such a time.'

'Then how did he get that great beastie back up here?'

asked Jamie.

'With help, I expect,' said the Doctor. 'But that's all in the past. If my friends the Dugraqs are right, we should be worrying about these Mecrim creatures.'

The swords of the knights and the City Guard will surely be enough to save our city from any attack - even from the Menagerie of Ukkazaal,' said Oiquaquil.

A confident female voice echoed from the rear of the cavern. 'I'm not so certain.'

The Doctor turned to see Zoe walking towards him. He clapped his hands together joyfully. 'I can't tell you how pleased I am to see you,' he said, giving the young woman an embarra.s.sed hug.

'It's lovely to be back,' said Zoe. 'h.e.l.lo, Jamie.'

Defrabax tutted impatiently. 'We were talking about these Mecrim creatures.'

'If I'm right,' said Zoe, 'you'll need more than swords to defeat these monsters. My friends and I encountered the most vicious beast I've ever seen.' Two figures, joined at the waist, followed Zoe out of the shadows. 'The monster killed hundreds of people in minutes. We were very lucky to survive.'

The Doctor politely shook the hands of the twins as they came forward. 'Delighted to meet you.'

'Jamie,' hissed Zoe. 'Stop staring.'

'What? Oh, aye, right.' Jamie scratched his head. 'Er, h.e.l.lo.'

'h.e.l.lo, Jamie,' said one of the twins, smiling. 'We've heard all about you.'

'Aye,' said Jamie. 'Aye, I suppose you have.'

'I'm Reisaz,' continued the twin. 'My unusually quiet sister is Raitak.'

Defrabax sighed. 'Can the introductions not wait? What do you know of these monsters?'